Alexis Zorba: Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You've got everthing except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else... Basil: Or else? Alexis Zorba: ...he never dares cut the rope and be free.

Alexis Zorba: No more fooling around, not in this place. We'll pull our pants up and make a pile of money.

Alexis Zorba: Why do the young die? Why does anybody die? Basil: I don't know. Alexis Zorba: What's the use of all your damn books if they can't answer that? Basil: They tell me about the agony of men who can't answer questions like yours. Alexis Zorba: I spit on this agony!

Alexis Zorba: God has a very big heart but there is one sin he will not forgive [slaps table] Alexis Zorba: if a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go. I know because a very wise old Turk told me.

Alexis Zorba: Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe.

Alexis Zorba: You think too much.That is your trouble.Clever people and grocers, they weigh everything.